Anyone Use Shanghai GP3 Film in 4x5 and 8x10

[braxus]

There are Chinese sellers selling the GP3 film in these two sizes. The 8x10 stuff is only a little over $80 US dollars, so Im wondering if its worth a look? Anyone use this stuff, and how does it compare to other 100 speed films available in these sizes? Or should I just stick to something like Adox CHS II 100 or Ilford Ortho 80 Plus?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I shot it in 14x17. Rated it at 100 and developed it in Pyrocat HD. Made a fine carbon print from the negative.

[braxus]

I had a comment from someone else, saying he had defects in the emulsion on his sheets of this film. So Quality control was suspect. Was suggested to stick with more common films.

[Tin Can]

Very nice Jim!



I shot it in 14x17. Rated it at 100 and developed it in Pyrocat HD. Made a fine carbon print from the negative.

[Greg]

I had a comment from someone else, saying he had defects in the emulsion on his sheets of this film. So Quality control was suspect. Was suggested to stick with more common films.

Over the years (since the early 1970s) have experienced defects three times with Kodak and Ilford films. Called each of them up and film was always replaced with fresh boxes of film. Once with Ilford, was told to send the film back to them so that they could check it out, and that they would be sending me replacement boxes of film that same day to me... On a similar note, once a zipper broke on one of my Lowe Pro backpack photo bags. Called them up and gave them the batch? number that was on a tag on the bag. "No need to return the backpack" with the broken zipper... they would be sending me out a replacement bag that same day.

[cp_photo]

I've been buying 4x5 Shanghai film via the auction site, and I have gotten good results from it using Rodinal as a developer.

[ic-racer]

I got my first batch of 8x10 Shanghai a couple weeks ago. Due to the bad weather, I have not loaded it in holders yet. Maybe I can do something inside with it.

[Tin Can]

I got some 3X4 I will be shooting soon and using Rodinal

My boxes are mostly in Chinese and shipped direct from China

[Mike Ratel]

This the Shanghai 4x5 film shot with a Crown Graphic with a Kodak 127mm F4.7 lens. Developed in Rodinal semi stand for one hour in Rodinal. This was the first time ever shooting film with a LF camera.

203285

[j enea]

i used 1 box and got nice results. I order a second batch and all had moisture damage from the paper between the sheets, ruining every shot. finally got a refund from paypal after 2 months, but had to pay more than 40% of the cost of the film to send the defective film back. what a joke. the US government subsidizes the chinese postal system, making it cheap for them to mail things overseas. but hope you never have to return anything. it cost me almost $50 to send back $100 worth of film. never again will I buy the film, which is sad as I liked the film, when it worked, very much.

john

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a box of 8x10, and a couple of boxes of 4x5. I've gone through a few sheets of both formats, and was pleased. Here is one I shot on 8x10 last Spring. EI 50. It was developed in Pyrocat-HD.

203297

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I've used this film in 4x5 format for reversal and was happy with the results. Reciprocity failure correction table was kindly provided by Andrew and it works well reversal too. Though I've heard about QC issues, I didn't face any such issue. Now I have the film in 5x7 format and I hope my good luck with the film continues.

[FrancisF]

Bought a box of ten 20 x 24 sheets last year and just got around to trying it last weekend. Shot 4 so far and seems OK....except for obvious manufacturing defect on one sheet. A clear dot in negative.

203345

[unityofsaints]

I've used this film in 4x5 format for reversal and was happy with the results. Reciprocity failure correction table was kindly provided by Andrew and it works well reversal too. Though I've heard about QC issues, I didn't face any such issue. Now I have the film in 5x7 format and I hope my good luck with the film continues.

Do you have a link to this reciprocity table? I have been using ADOX in 7x17" but their prices have gone up 40% (!) in the last year so I'm looking into alternatives. Not sure I want to put up with the complications of X-Ray so Shanghai and Ilford are the only other games in town :(

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Do you have a link to this reciprocity table? I have been using ADOX in 7x17" but their prices have gone up 40% (!) in the last year so I'm looking into alternatives. Not sure I want to put up with the complications of X-Ray so Shanghai and Ilford are the only other games in town :(

I've used the film in 14x17. I shoot it at ISO 50 and develop in Pyrocat HD 2:2:100 for 14 minutes for carbon printing. The factor I use is 1.46 for reciprocity and it works well. Almost everything I shoot is over a minute. Here is a carbon print from this film.

[Merg Ross]

I've used the film in 14x17. I shoot it at ISO 50 and develop in Pyrocat HD 2:2:100 for 14 minutes for carbon printing. The factor I use is 1.46 for reciprocity and it works well. Almost everything I shoot is over a minute. Here is a carbon print from this film.

Proof that it's all about light, and an eye for good composition. Beautiful, Jim.
Best,
Merg

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Proof that it's all about light, and an eye for good composition. Beautiful, Jim.
Best,
Merg

Merg, thank you. The light draws me in and the rest just falls into place. It is all about one's feeling. But I don't need to tell you that.

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Do you have a link to this reciprocity table?

Here it is: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/testing-some-new-film-shanghai-8x10-how-i-do-it.171836/page-2#post-2238060

[jmdavis]

Merg, thank you. The light draws me in and the rest just falls into place. It is all about one's feeling. But I don't need to tell you that.

There's a line from the song "Against the night" by Jason Webley,

"This light won't die, between the shadows of the leaves it dances, as the wind blows by."

Light is the thing the draws many of us I think. I can be distracted walking to my parking deck at work by the right light on the buildings and trees.

[ic-racer]

I shot 3 boxes of this film in 8x10 since I posted above.
Some examples:
220423
220422

[pchong]

Reviving this thread…

I read in a Reddit post that though the data sheet in the box says the notch is on the lower right, the instruction is incorrect and the notches are as with other sheets - on the upper right. Anyone knows if this has been corrected, either the info sheet or the notches? I just ordered a box, and am wondering if it should load like any other sheets. Thanks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/nzg6v5/shanghai_gp3_100_my_review/

[Michael Wellman]

I got a couple boxes of Shanghai (8x20 and 14x17) a couple of years ago. The notches were in the industry standard position of upper right.

The film was very nice and good quality. On my 8x20 film there was some quality control issues. Some of the sheets were too large (+2mm) so they wouldn't fit in the holder. There was also a problem with the notch code slowly rising so that each consecutive sheet it was higher till there was no notch code. I've never come across these issues in 40+ years of using LF film. Needless to say I will not purchase film from them again.

[pchong]

Thanks…will give it a try. A box of 25 sheets will cost me only about USD 32.

[ic-racer]

Reviving this thread…

I read in a Reddit post that though the data sheet in the box says the notch is on the lower right, the instruction is incorrect and the notches are as with other sheets - on the upper right. Anyone knows if this has been corrected, either the info sheet or the notches? I just ordered a box, and am wondering if it should load like any other sheets. Thanks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/nzg6v5/shanghai_gp3_100_my_review/

My last batch of 8x10 had notches on both corners. Good news was that the film exposed fine through either side and, with a Jobo Expert drum, the film loaded emulsion side out, still processed OK for the most part.

The negative shown was exposed from the back and processed emulsion side out in the drum. Came out OK but backwards.

233212

[Tin Can]

I have been slowly using 3-1/4 X 4-1/4 Shanghai GP3, 200 sheets bought direct

Notch Normal

[Kiwi7475]

It’s a good film. I wish they sold it in 11x14 but alas… which is strange because they carry larger and fairly odd sizes.

[Daniel Unkefer]

I stocked up when it was being closed out. Need to try it again. I have been shooting a lot of the 220 GP3 and I like it a lot. It seems to have a sort of retro tonality. Like an old school film

[2014268]

I've used this film in 4x5 format for reversal and was happy with the results. Reciprocity failure correction table was kindly provided by Andrew and it works well reversal too. Though I've heard about QC issues, I didn't face any such issue. Now I have the film in 5x7 format and I hope my good luck with the film continues.

Hi Raghu, I used 4x5" Shanghai GP3 negative at ISO 100 and the developed it with DDX ten minutes. The result: It is a positive image.
How come? can you enlighten me ? Thank you
Boon
Singapore

[Kevin Crisp]

I ordered a box of 4x5. It came with no notches whatsoever. In the dark you can (kind of) tell which side is which by feel, but it didn't leave me totally confident about emulsion facing out. They replaced that box. The replacement box produced nice looking negatives, with low b+f, but:

1. You can fix the hell out of it and it will still retain a little pink tinge; and,

2. There were tiny holes in the emulsion. Lots of them, as in 20 or more per sheet. They are smaller than what I'd consider a "pin hole," so with modest enlargement perhaps they would be very hard to pick up.

With 4x5 Tri-x pushing $5 a sheet, I wanted a cheaper alternative. But with the expense and time of traveling around to make photos, the savings didn't seem worth it. I did get a box of 5x7 too, but haven't tried it yet.

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Hi Raghu, I used 4x5" Shanghai GP3 negative at ISO 100 and the developed it with DDX ten minutes. The result: It is a positive image.
How come? can you enlighten me ? Thank you
Boon
Singapore

Hi Boon,

That's very strange indeed! The film I received is a true negative film (i.e. one that develops as a negative when developed with developers like D-76). To make transparencies out of this film I had to reversal process it - a laborious multi-step process. I have not recently bought Shanghai GP3 from eBay sellers and I don't know if they are selling a different film now under the same label. It is possible that you might have got a direct positive film that develops into a positive when developed normally. If you can tell more about your film (notch code, thickness, halation dye color, etc), more knowledgeable folks in the forum might be able to help you identify the film. Also can you take a pic of the positive you got and share it here?

[2014268]

Hi Boon,

That's very strange indeed! The film I received is a true negative film 247783(i.e. one that develops as a negative when developed with developers like D-76). To make transparencies out of this film I had to reversal process it - a laborious multi-step process. I have not recently bought Shanghai GP3 from eBay sellers and I don't know if they are selling a different film now under the same label. It is possible that you might have got a direct positive film that develops into a positive when developed normally. If you can tell more about your film (notch code, thickness, halation dye color, etc), more knowledgeable folks in the forum might be able to help you identify the film. Also can you take a pic of the positive you got and share it here?

Hi Raghu,
I have attached a photo of the positive image
Thank you
Boon

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Hi Boon,
That's a nice one. I guess if this (direct positive?) film is developed in a paper strength developer like Ilford PQ Universal, the contrast will be better, highlights will be more clear and the transparency will overall look nicer.
Can you share the source of this film? I might want to give it a try myself. :)

[2014268]

Hi Boon,
That's a nice one. I guess if this (direct positive?) film is developed in a paper strength developer like Ilford PQ Universal, the contrast will be better, highlights will be more clear and the transparency will overall look nicer.
Can you share the source of this film? I might want to give it a try myself. :)

Hi Raghu,
This GP3 4x5 negative sheet film was bought in 2020 Expired but kept in fridge. When developed in DDX 10” it became positive and fogged. Took out some year 2016 FP4+, it developed into negative normally. I suspect the Shanghai GP3 is not usable once passed expiry date, even though the film is kept in fridge. What an experience! Maybe Ilford PQ developer may help.
Boon

[Tim Meisburger]

I ordered a box of 4x5. It came with no notches whatsoever. In the dark you can (kind of) tell which side is which by feel, but it didn't leave me totally confident about emulsion facing out. They replaced that box. The replacement box produced nice looking negatives, with low b+f, but:

1. You can fix the hell out of it and it will still retain a little pink tinge; and,

2. There were tiny holes in the emulsion. Lots of them, as in 20 or more per sheet. They are smaller than what I'd consider a "pin hole," so with modest enlargement perhaps they would be very hard to pick up.

With 4x5 Tri-x pushing $5 a sheet, I wanted a cheaper alternative. But with the expense and time of traveling around to make photos, the savings didn't seem worth it. I did get a box of 5x7 too, but haven't tried it yet.

Are you stopping with acid stop? I vaguely recall having problems with pinholes once when I was stopping with water and shifting to an acid stop fixed it. Just a thought.

[Vaughan]

Hi Raghu, I used 4x5" Shanghai GP3 negative at ISO 100 and the developed it with DDX ten minutes. The result: It is a positive image.
How come? can you enlighten me ? Thank you
Boon
Singapore

That's probably dichroic fog which can look like image reversal. Probably exhausted fixer, or used fix with dissolved metallic silver that's precipitating out (causing the dichroic fog). Try re-fixing in fresh fix.

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Hi Raghu,
This GP3 4x5 negative sheet film was bought in 2020 Expired but kept in fridge. When developed in DDX 10” it became positive and fogged. Took out some year 2016 FP4+, it developed into negative normally. I suspect the Shanghai GP3 is not usable once passed expiry date, even though the film is kept in fridge. What an experience! Maybe Ilford PQ developer may help.
Boon

Hi Boon,

I noticed that the current batches of Shanghai GP3 can be developed under deep red safelight (https://shop.shjcfilm.com/collections/b-w-slide-film/products/shanghai-gp3-100-4x5-sheet-film)according to the official GP3 store. As far as I remember, GP3 used to be a panchromatic film earlier and not an orthochromatic or blue sensitive film. Also, the film is now "high contrast" whereas earlier it wasn't so. This makes me suspect that a different film is probably now being sold under the same brand name.

[dave_whatever]

There is a UK retailer who imports GP3 into the UK. On their site they say:

"Shanghai GP3 Large Format Sheet Films are a truly lovely black and white film that come to us at a superb price these are a whole new film from the factory in China.

.....

The factory, now in private not state ownership has been getting some assitance from a quality European manufacturer and the new emulsion they are using is excellent…."

https://ntphotoworks.com/product/shanghai-gp3-large-format-film/

I asked them on a Facebook post how they compared this to Fomapan, and they said it was better (they do sell both, to be fair). However, I saw from another of their posts that due to "the ORWO situation" they suspect the Shanghai sheet films will no longer be available. I don't know what "the ORWO situation" is, so make of this what you will.

248545

There is other mention online of Shanghai having some relationship with ORWO, and speculation that GP3 might be ORWO's UN54. The datasheet for UN54 says;

" UN 54 should be processed in total darkness. If absolutely necessary, a safe light using an indirect 15 watt lamp can be used while processing, having an ORWO safe light filter no. 108 (dark green), Kodak no. 3 or Ilford no. 908, but a distance of at least 75 cm should be maintained."

[Vaughan]

I noticed that the current batches of Shanghai GP3 can be developed under deep red safelight (https://shop.shjcfilm.com/collections/b-w-slide-film/products/shanghai-gp3-100-4x5-sheet-film)according to the official GP3 store.

They probably mean an infrared light source, or an extremely deep, barely-visible red. More likely it's a translation error.

Some panchromatic film data sheets allow for use under a deep green filter, but it's usually only safe if not directly shining on the film itself; typically the safelight is used to illuminate darkroom walkways for safety, and not intended to be used as a working light. Sometimes the light is directed onto the film surface briefly while it's moving for, say, visual detection of defects, but the brightness is low and time of exposure is brief.

[Tim Meisburger]

Interesting that they changed the emulsion, but not the name of the film. So is one expected to use the old development times for the new film? Any idea when they made the change? I have a box of that film I bought last year, and I found it funky, so maybe its the new emulsion? Ten years ago I used to get Shanghai for $13 a box in Asia, and I liked it, but then it seemed to change, so maybe they were fiddling with the emulsion the whole time?

Anyway, I'm going hand held in Africa this fall, so thinking of switching to HP5.

[John Layton]

Tim - by all means, switch to HP5…so that you don’t risk the photographic results from your upcoming Africa trip by courting (known or possible) inconsistencies in film stock!

[Tim Meisburger]

Yes, I was never going to take the shanghai. I've had a box sitting around for a year and not finished it because I was getting such inconsistent results. I've never really shot HP5, but like both FP4 and Delta. For color, I plan to shoot Velvia 50, if I can get it developed there. Otherwise, I guess Kodak Gold 200?

[Daniel Unkefer]

I loaded up on GP3 when it was being closed out back in the day, I have quite a few older boxes of 4x5 and 5x7. I've been using the newer 220 in my Blads and Mamiya C22/33's, I going on forty rolls with no defects so far. I've got some 4x5 loaded in the Combiplan holding tank right now, waiting for development.

The prices I see now discourage me to buy any more, I'd rather buy close dated FOMA for less money (which I know is a temporary good deal). I may get some of the newer 8x10 to try at some point, but not right now.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53045461341_e37f4ec975_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2oPrRzF)Makiflex 4x5 Shanghai Octobox 150 F16 D23 (https://flic.kr/p/2oPrRzF) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

This I shot recently on old 4x5 Shanghai, no defects so far